Leica M9 Titanium Review

[terakopian]

Greetings Folks,

Wanted to share my review of the M9 Titanium:

http://photothisandthat.co.uk/2010/11/14/leica-m9-titanium/

Regards,

Edmond

 

[axiom]

The images are really sharper.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I'm not sure I like the feeling of sitting in an Audi whilst looking through the v/f...

 

[Austerby]

I think it's a gorgeous camera and always said so from the start, despite receiving a good shoeing from other commentators.

I see it as a prototype for the M10 and welcome the re-conceptualisation of the M-series for the new century.

I'm definitely keeping my M8 and I'm happy to wait a couple of years or more for the M10 to appear if this concept model is any indication of what is next.

Mind you, my old Leitz lenses will look a bit odd on it...

 

[Keith]

It's a bit tragic reviewing a camera like this but not being able to take it out of the office ... it doesn't exactly give an idea of what it's capable of.

But then again most of these will be lucky to make it out of a display case so this example has to be regarded as having had 'heavy use' now I guess! 😛

 

[akk2]

NO screw for soft release. 🙁

 

[terakopian]

The images are really sharper.

...as sharp as a 'regular' M9 with the 35mm Summilux ASPH ;-)

 

[terakopian]

I think it's a gorgeous camera and always said so from the start, despite receiving a good shoeing from other commentators.

I see it as a prototype for the M10 and welcome the re-conceptualisation of the M-series for the new century.

I'm definitely keeping my M8 and I'm happy to wait a couple of years or more for the M10 to appear if this concept model is any indication of what is next.

Mind you, my old Leitz lenses will look a bit odd on it...

I agree totally. It's a very interesting design exercise and definitely not one of the regular limited editions (which I'm generally not a huge fan of). I'd love to see a black Titanium M10 option 🙂

Edmond

 

[terakopian]

It's a bit tragic reviewing a camera like this but not being able to take it out of the office ... it doesn't exactly give an idea of what it's capable of.

But then again most of these will be lucky to make it out of a display case so this example has to be regarded as having had 'heavy use' now I guess! 😛

It's so exceptionally rare and to be honest, I wouldn't have felt comfortable taking it out. Image wise, it's identical to the regular M9 and 35mm Summilux ASPH, so for me it was more a case of the viewfinder and feel of the titanium along with the newly designed body.

As far as I know, I'm the only journalist in the world who's had the opportunity to actually test the camera, so I'm pretty grateful for the opportunity.

Edmond

 

[terakopian]

NO screw for soft release. 🙁

Good point - hadn't thought of that!

Edmond

 

[Darshan]

So the rangefinder patch is red?

 

[B.J.Scharp]

Did it occur to anyone that if you really want red framelines for better visibility, you can just put a bit of red filter over the illumination window?

I'm now thinking of constructing a LED-powered contraption to give me red, illuminated framelines on my M3 🙂

 

[Doug]

So the rangefinder patch is red?

Only the framelines, I believe... RF patch completely normal.

 

[Mister E]

Did it occur to anyone that if you really want red framelines for better visibility, you can just put a bit of red filter over the illumination window?

I'm now thinking of constructing a LED-powered contraption to give me red, illuminated framelines on my M3 🙂

Actually green would be the most visible and red would be the least visible. Red would be better for maintaining your night vision, but who needs to SEE the frame lines?

 

[gavinlg]

I didn't like this camera when I first saw pictures of it - I thought it looked a bit off. I have to admit that it's grown on me a lot and I actually quite like the aesthetics of it... The price is just stupid but it's quite a gorgeous machine.

Hope they employ some of that technology in the next M.

 

[Keith]

The question I have to ask is ... did the tester get a chance to check out our theory about the hood being the perfect scone cutter?

:angel:

 

[Jamie123]

In your review you refer to the frame lines as "digital frame lines" but as far as I can understand they're just regular frame lines illuminated by a red LED instead of ambient light. So there also should be no surprise that the actual frame lines are exactly the same as they would be on a regular M9.

By the way, wouldn't it be funny if Leica started using multi-color/RGB LEDs for frame line illumination? Switch from red to green, blue or white depending on the mood you're in 😉

 

[terakopian]

So the rangefinder patch is red?

I'm pretty sure it's the regular colour and that's just an effect from the picture.

 

[terakopian]

The question I have to ask is ... did the tester get a chance to check out our theory about the hood being the perfect scone cutter?

:angel:

Alas not!!! Even teh hood is a thing of beauty though!

 

[terakopian]

In your review you refer to the frame lines as "digital frame lines" but as far as I can understand they're just regular frame lines illuminated by a red LED instead of ambient light. So there also should be no surprise that the actual frame lines are exactly the same as they would be on a regular M9.

By the way, wouldn't it be funny if Leica started using multi-color/RGB LEDs for frame line illumination? Switch from red to green, blue or white depending on the mood you're in 😉

By that I simply meant to differentiate the LED version from the regular. As far as I know, they are identical in size.